First of all, as the shiniest of all the baubles now available to NHL teams at the draft in June, the newly No. 1-ranked Bennett quite rightly should have been here at the BMO Top Prospects game to bathe in the glow of his new status.

Sadly, a groin injury kept the Kingston Frontenacs centre out of the weekend’s action and won’t allow him to play in Wednesday’s game at the Saddledome.

Beyond that, if Bennett had made it, it would have given the long-suffering Frontenacs three participants in the festivities involving the top 40 prospects in Canadian junior ranks. Instead, defenceman Roland McKeown and forward Spencer Watson will represent the team, and that alone will highlight just how much things have turned around in Kingston since Doug Gilmour took over the reins.

Yep, you could look it up. After coaching the team for three years, Gilmour became general manager in 2011 only to find that top teenage hockey players weren’t interested in joining Kingston.

At that year’s OHL priority draft, both Max Domi and Bo Horvat, later to become NHL first-rounders, let it be known they’d rather play just about anywhere other than Kingston.

Given that Domi is the son of Tie Domi, Gilmour’s former Leaf teammate, the vote of non-confidence was particularly painful.

“It was tough to take,” admitted the former Toronto captain on Tuesday. “Talk about having your hands tied. So we had to start over. Didn’t have a choice. We had to start from scratch.”

Gilmour knew it was partly about the Frontenacs franchise, and partly about him.

“One hundred per cent people doubted me,” he said. “It was the old, ‘a great player can’t be a good coach or GM’ thing.”

Gilmour drafted Domi the Younger anyway, but then realized he didn’t have a choice and traded him to London for three second-round picks. Then came a difficult 19-win season.

“We had to take a step back to move forward,” said Gilmour. “We didn’t play games with our fans. We told them it was going to be rough.

“As a player, you see how teams are built, whether it’s the ’93 Leaf team or my Stanley Cup team in Calgary. You know the pieces you have to add on.

“We wanted character kids, kids who would compete. I wanted to put a stamp on it my way.”

The next summer, he was able to do just that. With the second overall pick after Connor McDavid, Kingston took McDavid’s teammate with Toronto Marlie minor midgets, McKeown.

“I never thought about doing what other guys had done,” said McKeown. “I figured they drafted me so they needed me and I would go.”

Then came Bennett, another Marlie, selected ninth with the compensatory pick awarded to Kingston when Domi refused to report. With a second-round selection, Gilmour and his staff grabbed Watson, a skilled winger.

Just under two years later, head coach Todd Gill has the Fronts in second place in their division behind Oshawa. Bennett, wearing the same No. 93 Gilmour once wore, is fourth in OHL scoring and has shot up the NHL rankings, overtaking Kootenay Ice centre Sam Reinhart and Barrie Colts blueliner Aaron Ekblad for the No. 1 ranking.

“Gimme guys like Mike Richards who will get you 50-60 points and go through the wall for you,” said Gilmour. “That’s Bennett. There’s no quit in this kid. He’s just getting better and better and better because his compete level is off the charts.”

McKeown, a smooth, puck-moving defenceman, is ranked No. 15 among North Americans, while Watson, whose twin brother also plays for the Frontenacs, is No. 33.

“It’s very special. People are believing in what we’re doing now,” said Gilmour. “It’s very rewarding see some of these guys develop, whether they go on to a Canadian university or the NHL.”

It’ll be interesting to see if Bennett can hang on to the No. 1 ranking in what may be the most fluid draft list in years. You’ve got Reinhart and Ekblad, as well as German national Leon Draisaitl, a centre with the Prince Albert Raiders, who is suddenly No. 2 in the rankings.

Michael dal Colle of Oshawa is No. 5, while Niagara Ice Dogs forward Brendan Perlini, son of one-time Leaf winger Fred Perlini, is at No. 8 with a bullet.

For Gilmour and the Frontenacs, however, much has already been accomplished. The reputation of the franchise is vastly improved, and if Bennett, McKeown and Watson all return next year, the club could have a shot at an OHL championship.

We’ll see, meanwhile, if Gilmour is there to run it. His contract is up, and he’s mulling over the possibility of returning to coach next season elsewhere.

Right now, he has to feel vindicated. He’s shown he can build a team and identify talent, and lots of people are noticing.

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